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A proposed amendment to the Cyprus Resolution Law tabled to Parliament’s finance committee this week, shows just how hopelessly wrong and illegal was the Central Bank of Cyprus’s (CBC) implementation of this same Law on the Cyprus branch of FBME Bank in July 2014. At the same time, it points up that the authorities wish the implementation of the Resolution Law in the Republic to become highly selective, thereby heaping discrimination upon injustice.

Much has been revealed in the last couple of weeks that we didn’t know before thanks to flurries in the media, resignations from the Central Bank and the outcomes of official investigations. For the first time in a real sense, light has been shed on the circumstances of last July’s draconian imposition of Resolution measures on FBME bank’s Cyprus branch and the string of consequences of that decision.

In announcing his resignation from the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Cyprus on Friday, 20 March 2015, Stavros Zenios issued a written public statement in Greek, which he also listed on his blog. This statement in Greek was run in full on the news website Stockwatch, and we have been granted permission to provide a link to its site: http://www.stockwatch.com.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_name=news_view&ann_id=219817.

Information has come to FBME Limited that the Republic of Cyprus at the Arbitral tribunal at the ICC in Paris, are seeking to have the Cyprus branch of FBME Bank closed on the grounds that no buyers for the branch have been found. In other words, because the Resolution measure foisted on the branch by the CBC last July hasn’t worked they want to withdraw the FBME licence. They add that they have to do this now because closure would trigger the deposit protection insurance and that the FBME funds held by the CBC are at a level (EUR 158 million) that will enable them to make these insurance payments.

Continuing a sequence of magisterial pronouncements, the Administrator of the Central Bank, Dinos Christofides, issued a memo to managers and staff in FBME Bank’s Cyprus branch reminding them of the 8.30 am to 5.00 pm working day at the branch. He also added that any senior staff seeking to go on leave had to put in a request through HR and wait for Mr Christofides to issue his approval.

The hearing at the House of Representatives – the Cyprus Parliament – into actions taken by the Central Bank of Cyprus against FBME, which was scheduled for last Tuesday 17 February, was postponed at the request of the Cyprus Attorney General, Costas Clerides. In acceding to the request, members of the Parliamentary committee due to host the hearing made clear that it would be re-staged at a later date.

Further to our story this morning, it is good to report that significant sums from FBME Bank accounts have arrived at the Central Bank of Cyprus. So, for now, there is no liquidity issue and transactions should be renewed. It is good to bring welcome news to our customers, staff, correspondents, associates and friends.

Whether the Central Bank of Cyprus ever understood the consequences of its decision in slapping Resolution measures on the Cyprus branch of FBME Bank in the late evening of 21 July, they realise the damage to Cyprus that they have now caused. The latest to express their extreme disquiet about the banking authorities in the Republic are members of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament.

The submission to the US Department of the Treasury’s FinCEN bureau in Washington DC is underway. This is in line with the 60-day period allowed for a response to FinCEN’s notice of finding and notice of proposed rulemaking issued in July.